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IRT Technology Update

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Contents:
01. New Matlab Procedure for Lab Managers and System Admins
02. EndNote Update X2.0.4 for Windows and X2.0.2 for Mac OS X
03. Networking Update
04. New GIS Software Package from the Environmental Systems Research Institute
05. Now Live: IRT Twitter
06. Personal Purchases Through GovConnection*
07. Tip of the Month: Mass Email Etiquette #2

Tips & Tricks

News & Notes from the Online Learning Team
17. Lecture Capture
18. That Sounds Good - Audio Lecture Notes
19. Add a Teaching Assistant or Section Designer to Your Bb Vista Course
20. Clean Up Your Bb Vista Course List!
21. Create a Grading Form Column in Bb Vista
22. Schedule for Upcoming IRT Workshops

1. New Matlab Procedure for Lab Managers and System Admins
IRT has deployed three new license management servers for Matlab R14, R2007a through R2009b, which replaced the following three license servers as of December 30, 2009:

  • dunx1.irt.drexel.edu
  • ldap1.irt.drexel.edu
  • ldap2.irt.drexel.edu

If you are a system administrator or lab manager, and maintain user workstations or departmental Unix servers with a Matlab license pointing to the servers above, you will need to update the "license.dat" file on those machines.

NOTE: Students and any other Matlab users do NOT need to update their licenses. This update is intended for workstations and servers maintained by lab managers or system administrators.
Instructions for the new Matlab licensing procedure can be found at http://askdrexel.drexel.edu/cgi-bin/du_crm.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2777.

2. EndNote Update X2.0.4 for Windows and X2.0.2 for Mac OS X
Users of EndNote X2 can download a newly-released update that includes requested features and increased flexibility. To download the update, follow these steps:

  • Close all programs and turn off any background software, such as virus protection.
  • From within EndNote, choose "EndNote Program Updates" from the "Help" menu and follow the on-screen prompts.
  • Once the process has finished, choose "EndNote Program Updates" from the "Help" menu again to ensure that all updates have been downloaded and installed.

EndNote support provides additional information at http://www.endnote.com/support/ENX201_WinMac_updater.asp.

3. Networking Update
Currently, network access in One Drexel Plaza and Stiles Residence Hall is provided using roof-mounted, commercial grade, WiFi-like radios to transmit signals to and from the University City Main Campus data center.
This spring, IRT will install new fiber optic cable that connects One Drexel Plaza and Stiles Residence Hall directly to the Korman Center's Main Campus Data Center. This new fiber optic installation will allow IRT to replace the existing radio transmitters with dedicated optical service that supports 10 Gbps of network bandwidth, nearly 100 times the current capacity.
The Bellet and New College Buildings will take advantage of the same capacity upgrade when new optical cable is installed to link these buildings to Stiles Hall.
Both capacity upgrades are anticipated to go live beginning in July 2010. Check future issues of the Tech Update for additional information!

4. New GIS Software Package from the Environmental Systems Research Institute
Through the Office of Information Resources and Technology, Drexel University distributes a variety of production software via our available site licenses. Many of these applications are provided as a result of requests from academic departments. IRT is currently investigating the purchase of a site license from the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) for ArcGIS, an integrated geographic application for spatial analysis, mapping, and data and asset management. If you represent a department and are interested in utilizing this program, email consult@drexel.edu.

For more information, visit http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis.
In addition to commonly-used applications such as Microsoft Office and Symantec AntiVirus/Endpoint Protection, IRT provides a host of academic and productivity programs, including Maple, PASW (formerly SPSS), Matlab, QCad, EndNote, Impatica, and more. A full list of software offerings can be found at http://www.drexel.edu/irt/software/softwarelist.aspx.

5. Now Live: IRT Twitter
IRT's new Twitter account is now live! Visit IRT's Twitter page at https://twitter.com/Drexel_IRT, or go to IRT's Web site at http://www.drexel.edu/irt and click "Follow Us On Twitter" in the lower left-hand corner of the home page. Twitter will be used to post helpful information for students, faculty, and staff, such as the hours of the Korman Help Desk, unexpected outages or schedule changes, new term reminders, and Tech Update announcements. Check it out and follow us on Twitter!

6. Personal Purchases Through GovConnection*
Drexel University has partnered with GovConnection in order to extend its discount to faculty, staff, and students on consumer electronics for personal use.

GovConnection is dedicated to fulfilling the unique, specialized IT needs of academic institutions, as well as state and local governments throughout the United States. GovConnection provides more than 100,000 products, a nationwide network of service partners, and teams of certified technical experts.

Simply create your account online at http://www.govconnection.com/drexelpersonal and begin shopping!

For additional assistance, please contact Jeff Sparr, Account Manager at 1-800-800-0019 ext. 75574 or jsparr@govconnection.com.
* Drexel University is providing information about this program as a courtesy, and is not responsible for the content of the GovConnection site or ordering support. Inquiries regarding billing, products, and order status should be directed to GovConnection. For departmental purchases contact Drexel Procurement at http://www.drexel.edu/procurement.

7. Tip of the Month: Mass Email Etiquette #2
Attention list owners! A note about message audience:

It is important to be mindful of your audience when you are sending messages to your ListServ lists. When you are crafting the message details for your event, announcement, or workshop, consider where your recipients are located. For example, is the announcement relevant to recipients in both Philadelphia and Sacramento? If it is specific to Drexel's University City Campus, you might want to consider setting up a separate list(s) for Drexel's other campuses.
IRT can help you create and manage multiple lists. For more information, please contact the Mail Request team at mailreq@drexel.edu.

Tips & Tricks
Tips & Tricks are helpful articles that address a variety of Windows and Mac applications. Click on one of the links below to view the full article:
Use Heading Styles in Word!

Heading styles are powerful additions to any Word document. They help documents comply with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements and make them easier to use on the Web. But first, you might be wondering, "What is a style?"

A style is a collection of formatting commands that can be easily created, saved, accessed, and applied to a block of text with a single click. Create one or more styles—once—use them over and over! The "Normal" style is automatically assigned to text in Word, but you can easily assign a style of your choice by first selecting the text and then following these steps:

In Word 2007:
  • In the "Styles" group on the "Home" tab, click a style to apply it to the selected text (to view all available styles, click the "More" button).

In Word 2003:

  1. Under the "Format" menu, select "Styles and Formatting."
  2. In the "Styles and Formatting" pane, select "All styles" from the "Show" drop-down menu to display all styles.
  3. Click a style to apply it to the selected text.

Some styles, such as "Heading" styles, are designed for titles and headings, while others can be applied to any selected text. For instance, you can assign the style "Intense Emphasis" to phrases within a paragraph or scattered throughout a document. Modifying the appearance of the "Intense Emphasis" style (e.g., color, size, spacing, font, etc.) will change the appearance of all text that has been assigned that style. By clicking the "Change Styles" button in the "Styles" group and selecting a different style set, color scheme, or font, you can automatically change the appearance of all styles in the document.

Heading styles are useful for several reasons:

  • When a document is saved as a Web page, heading styles are automatically converted to HTML headings (H1, H2, etc.).
  • When a document is saved in Adobe PDF format, headings become "bookmarks."
  • Screen readers (text to speech) can usually "browse" through a document by skipping from header to header.
  • Word can use headers to automatically create a table of contents.

A table of contents created from headers of various levels can be particularly useful when posting documents to the Web. After saving a Word document in Web format (by selecting "Single File Web Page," "Web Page," or "Web Page, Filtered" under "Save as type" in the "Save As" dialog box), each item in the table of contents will automatically link to a heading within the document! Try it out:

In Word 2007:

  • Under the "References" tab, select "Table of Contents" > "Insert Table of Contents" to access all of the options.

In Word 2003:

  • Under the "Insert" menu, select References > Index and Tables, and click on the "Table of Contents" tab.
  • When creating a table of contents for the Web, uncheck the "Show page numbers" box.

Printing Multiple Word Documents from a PC
If you need to print multiple Word documents over a short period, you don't have to open Word. If the documents are located in the same folder on your computer, you can simply follow these steps:
  1. Locate the documents in My Computer or Windows Explorer.
  2. Select them by using your mouse and the "Shift" key (for adjacent documents) or the "Ctrl" key (for nonadjacent documents).
  3. Finally, right-click on a selected document and choose "Print" from the shortcut menu. (If you do not see a "Print" option when you right-click, look for a "Print" button in the toolbar at the top of the screen.)

Word cycles through the documents one at a time, prints them, and closes down.


Using "Shrink to Fit" in Word

Before you print your document, preview it. If the last page contains no more than a few lines of text, consider shrinking your document to eliminate the nearly empty page.

To shrink your document:

In Word 2003:

  • Go to File > Print Preview (or click the "Print Preview" button on the "Standard" toolbar) and click the "Shrink to Fit" icon on the "Print Preview" toolbar.

In Word 2007:

  • Click the Office Button and select Print > Print Preview, or click the "Print Preview" button in the Quick Access Toolbar. Click the "Shrink One Page" button in the "Preview" group.

Word will decrease the size of every font in the document just enough to make it fit on one less page.


Creating a Page Border in Word

An interesting page border is nearly guaranteed to attract attention to your document. Follow these steps to create one:

In Word 2003:

  1. Select "Borders and Shading" from the "Format" menu.
  2. Click the "Page Border" tab.
  3. In the "Art" drop-down menu, select an attractive border from the list.
  4. Click "Options."
  5. In the "Measure from" drop-down menu, select "Text."
  6. Click "OK," then "OK" again.

In Word 2007:

  1. Click the "Page Layout" tab on the Ribbon.
  2. In the "Page Background" grouping, click the "Page Borders" button.
  3. In the "Art" drop-down menu, select an attractive border from the list.
  4. Click "Options."
  5. In the "Measure from" drop-down menu, select "Text."
  6. Click "OK," then "OK" again.

Entering Unbulleted Text in a Bulleted List in PowerPoint and Word

Sometimes, when you are typing a bulleted list, one of your list items is so detailed that it requires two (or more) paragraphs to do it justice. If you press "Enter" after typing the first paragraph, a bullet will automatically be created. However, you want to continue the first bulleted list item in a new paragraph instead. So how do you start a new paragraph without creating a new list item?

Press the "Shift" and "Enter" keys simultaneously, rather than just the "Enter" key, to start a new paragraph without creating a new list item. Type your text. If you need to create additional paragraphs, press "Shift+Enter" again. When you are ready to create the next bulleted item, just press "Enter."


Resetting a Picture in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel 2007

If, after resizing a picture, you are not satisfied with the result, you can reset your picture to its original size and proportions. Here's how:

  1. Select the picture.
  2. On the "Format" tab under "Picture Tools," in the Adjust group, click "Reset Picture."

Your picture will return to its original size and proportions.


Selecting the Active Area of an Excel Worksheet
The "active area" of an Excel worksheet is the part that contains any cells you have used. To select the active area, click the top left cell in that area, press and hold the "Shift" key, and then press the "Ctrl" and "End" keys simultaneously. (If Excel selects extra cells below and to the right of your work, save the workbook and try the keystroke again.)

Selecting Regions in Excel

In Excel, a region is any block of data cells surrounded by empty columns and rows.

To select a region, click any cell in the region and press the "Ctrl" and "*" (asterisk) keys simultaneously.


Selecting Nonadjacent Columns and Rows in Excel

You can select—and perform operations on—nonadjacent columns (Columns A and C, for example), nonadjacent rows (Rows 1 and 3), or columns and rows (such as Column A and Row 3). Here's how:

  1. Click the heading for the first column or row you want to select.
  2. Hold down the "Ctrl" key and select any other rows or columns you want.

The "Ctrl" key also selects nonadjacent files in the Windows Explorer interface (for instance, in your Documents or My Documents folder).


News & Notes from the Online Learning Team


17. Lecture Capture
Do you need to train a group of people, but can't get them all in the same room at the same time? Traveling to a conference and don't have a guest lecturer to fill in for you? Or are you interviewing someone and want that interview to be disseminated to your students?
IRT can assist you in determining which lecture capture technology (synchronous or asynchronous) would work best for you. Contact the Online Learning Team at 215-895-1224 or olt@drexel.edu to learn more.


18. That Sounds Good - Audio Lecture Notes
Tired of passing out the same old, flat, boring, silent lecture notes to your students? Why not drop them into DragonDrop? With four US English and two UK English voices to choose from, you can create an MP3 (audio) file from any Word, Rich Text, or plain text file. The text-to-audio conversion will help auditory learners as well as students with visual disabilities. They can listen to your notes anywhere, at any time, at their own pace!
Just visit http://www.drexel.edu/irt/rmcweb to activate your DragonDrop account today!


19. Add a Teaching Assistant or Section Designer to Your Bb Vista Course
At a section instructor's request, the Online Learning Team can add a Teaching Assistant or Section Designer to a Bb Vista course. However, section instructors can also make these additions on their own. From the "Teach" tab, click "Grade Book" in the left-hand toolbar, and then click the "Enroll Members" button. On the next screen, enter the username (i.e., the first part of the Drexel email address without the "@drexel.edu" domain), check the box next to "Teaching Assistant" or "Section Designer," and then click the "Enroll" button. The user's information should appear at the bottom of the screen.

The final and most important step is to click "Save" at the bottom of the screen. The user is now enrolled in the course as a Teaching Assistant or Section Designer.
To view a step-by-step video that includes a description of the Teaching Assistant and Section Designer roles, visit http://www.drexel.edu/irt/coursetools/toolList/bbvista/help/faculty/howToAddTAs.aspx.


20. Clean Up Your Bb Vista Course List!
Is your Bb Vista course list looking a little cluttered these days? You can hide previous courses and/or move your Winter term courses to the top of the list in the "Edit Course List" screen.

To do so, first click "Edit Course List" (looks like a pencil icon) on the Bb Vista Home page. Any course with a "Hide Link" button next to it is currently visible; to hide it, toggle the button to "Show Link." To hide many courses at once, place a checkmark in the boxes to the left of the course names, click the "Hide" button at the bottom of the screen, and then click "OK."

To move one or more courses up or down in the list, place a checkmark in the box(es) to the left of the course name(s), click on the left-most icon in the row above or below which you would like to move the course(s), and then click on "Move Selected Above" or "Move Selected Below."
To return to Bb Vista Home, click on the "Bb Vista Home" tab in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.


21. Create a Grading Form Column in Bb Vista
If you set up a grading form in Bb Vista but do not have an assignment to associate it with (because your students handed in a project outside of Bb Vista), you can create a Grading Form column in the Grade Book:

  • On the "Teach" tab, click "Grade Book" under "Instructor Tools" in the lower left-hand pane.
  • Click "Create Column" and select "Grading Form."
  • Enter a name for the column and click the "Select Grading Form" button.
  • Select the radio button next to the grading form you wish to use, and click the "Select" button.
  • By default, the column will be grade-related (i.e., it will appear in the "Grades" tab) and released to students. If you wish to change either of these settings, uncheck the box(es) on this screen.
  • Click on the "ActionLinks" menu next to the name of the newly-created column and select "Edit Values."
  • Click on the "Edit Grading Form Grade" button next to each student's name and fill out the grading form. You can also choose to override the grade in the "Change to" box, and enter comments and audit log comments. (Note that audit log comments will only be saved when a grade change has been made, and they will only be visible to instructors and TAs, not students).
  • Click "Save."
  • When you are finished entering grades for all students, click "OK."

In the "My Grades" tool, students can see their grade as well as a "View Graded Grading Form" button, where they can view your ratings as well as any comments you entered.

22. Schedule for Upcoming IRT Workshops
Unless otherwise noted, all sessions will be held in Korman 116. To sign up for any of these workshops, please email olt@drexel.edu.

Bb Vista

  • Bb Vista Full-Day Workshop
    Friday, February 5, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Thursday, April 1, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Aimed at instructors and administrators who are new to Bb Vista or who have not worked in Bb Vista for a while. Lunch will be provided.
  • Bb Vista: Using the Teach Tab and More
    Thursday, February 18, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    This workshop is geared toward users who are familiar with Bb Vista and want to learn more about using the system from a teaching perspective (managing assignments, creating assessments, using the grade book, etc.). Come with questions!

Brown Bag Lunch

  • Editing Images for Your Course: The Basics of GIMP
    Wednesday, February 17, noon - 1:00 p.m.
    Learn how GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), a freely-available software package, can be used to edit images for use in your course or personal collections. Basic functionality and techniques will be demonstrated.
  • Green Computing
    Friday, January 22, noon - 1:00 p.m.
    Modern electronics consume large amounts of energy. This fast-paced presentation provides concrete steps you can take to be more energy-efficient in your use of technology at home and in the office.

Camtasia

  • Desktop & Presentation Recording: Camtasia Relay
    Tuesday, February 9, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
    Friday, March 12, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
    Learn the basics of screencasting, how to prepare yourself for the recording process, and how to use Camtasia Relay to record your desktop for publication on the Web.
  • Recording and Editing with Camtasia for Mac
    Thursday, January 14, 10:00 a.m. – noon
    Tuesday, March 16, 10:30 a.m. – noon
    Learn how to use Camtasia for Mac to record your desktop and presentations, edit your work, and produce media files. Prerequisite: Desktop and Presentation Recording: Camtasia Relay. Recommended: Bring your own Intel-powered Mac laptop (MacBook, Pro, or Air).
  • Recording and Editing with Camtasia Studio for Windows
    Thursday, January 21, 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
    Tuesday, February 23, 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
    Thursday, March 18, 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
    Learn how to use Camtasia Studio for Windows to record your desktop and presentations, edit your work, and produce media files. Prerequisite: Desktop and Presentation Recording: Camtasia Relay.

DragonDrop

  • DragonDrop Basic Training
    Friday, January 22, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
    Thursday, February 25, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
    Monday, March 29, 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
    This workshop will introduce you to the basics of working with DragonDrop, a web-based application for capturing, encoding, and publishing rich media for Web access.

Dreamweaver

  • Dreamweaver Basic
    Wednesday, January 13, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Thursday, February 11, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Thursday, March 11, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    In the Basic course, we create simple pages using Dreamweaver CS4, including headings, lists, images, and links.
  • Dreamweaver Intermediate
    Thursday, January 28, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Thursday, February 25, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    Wednesday, March 24, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
    In the Intermediate course, we create and modify stylesheets and apply styles including fonts, float positioning, and colors.

Respondus

  • Respondus and StudyMate
    Thursday, January 14, 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
    Respondus products help us to easily import quiz questions/answers into Bb Vista, secure the online testing environment, and create interesting (and entertaining) learning objects.

SharePoint

  • SharePoint Basic - FULL
    Thursday, February 11, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
    SharePoint is a powerful tool for document collaboration. This session provides step-by-step directions and an overview of SharePoint's key functions.

Snap

  • Snap Basic
    Wednesday, March 10, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
    The Basic course is geared towards new users of Snap, Drexel's survey software. A demonstration of the entire survey setup process will be presented.
  • Snap Advanced
    Tuesday, February 16, 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
    In the Advanced course, users of Snap will learn how to create a survey, set up routing rules, and send automated survey invitation and reminder messages through Snap. Password-protected surveys and iterative surveys will also be discussed.

Wimba Live Classroom

  • Wimba Classroom and Other Wimba Tools
    Friday, February 26, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
    Wimba Classroom is a synchronous, virtual classroom. Its features include multi-way audio and video, easy upload of PowerPoint presentations, application sharing, polling, and more—all designed to create a robust online classroom experience.